Friday, September 28, 2007

Ok, everyone is sick of my Breast Cancer Blog. But I do have a couple of comments to make on that subject before I move on!Thank you so much toEVERYONE who donated money, online and in person. I am so touched by , encouraged by and proud of the kindness of the people in my circle. I have raised with everyone's generosity over $650 dollars towards the fight. Sandra is a little shy, and very swamped with her full life, so I have shared some of my donations with her, so she can get her numbers up. I am sure my friends won't mind and it give Sandra a good kick start to raise money for next year. Moving on, but same subject... Sandra will be arriving her this evening and we will spend our evening getting caught up on all the family happenings. Tomorrow, we will spend the day cruising the valley, and maybe picking up some produce (apples, potatoes and pumpkins) for her to take back since she lives in a city where that kind of stuff isn't on every road side or corner, like it is here in the valley. There is a craft fair in Middleton which is the most amazing event of the fall so we may do that. Wheatons, for lunch, for sure...that's a given. Early Sunday morning we will make the 2 hour trip to the city for our long awaited Run for the Cure. Think of us at 10 am on Sunday morning, as we wait as the start line.... hand in hand... ready to burst forward with all the runners... hee hee. That is funnier than you can know. We are not runners, but we will start with it, for sure. Next year..... we will run the full 5k, but this year... we will do what we can!My garden is dying off. We were overrun with cherry tomatoes, and I will pick them until the frost. But we are getting a bit tired of them. My beans are dying out and drying up. I will post pictures later, as my camera is on the missing list right at the moment, but I know where it is. I just can't get to it for a bit.

Stay tuned for pics from the Run on Sunday, and any other fun thing I may come across this weekend!!!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Breast Cancer.

I have a few thoughts. How can something like a woman’s breast, that gives life and nourishment to a child, also turn against us, and do so much damage to a family. There are not too many people in this world who haven’t been touched in some why by breast cancer.HopeI have been touched, only through friends, by breast cancer. I have 7 friends, or friends family members who have survived breast cancer. Not without some suffering, and/or loss. I also know 3, who did not survive. My good friend Lynn Main has seen both spectrums. Her mom survived breast cancer in the days (25 years ago) when it was almost impossible to survive. She underwent the most horrific treatments and she still survives today. She is in her 90’s. But sadly, in the spring, Lynns’ young daughter-in-law died from Breast Cancer, leaving behind her husband and two young children. My Aunt Sherry fought for 4 years, and lost her battle just over a year ago. But, so many do survive. My first time participating in the Run for the Cure, most participants in the run wore white T-shirts, with pink ribbon logos. But so many wore bright pink shirts, and I didn’t make the connection until the opening ceremonies, when it was announced that the men and women in bright pink are indeed SURVIVORS of Breast Cancer.. I was immediately filled with hope for the future of my friends, my self, and my daughters. How lucky are we, that the odds are shifting to surviving this cancer. My mind goes to Lynn Winter’s sister, who has recently survived treatments and is cancer free. Jane Bustin, Sandra Cathcart, Anne Clinch, and Cindy Benton who are all leading normal lives after being cancer free for a couple of years. But not without hard work, research and money. This is why the RUN FOR THE CURE is so dear to me. Breast Cancer affects every one of us. Men, women and children, all over the world. I participate every year, to help raise money to further research. You can’t help but be overwhelmed with the hope, the joy when your there, and the gratitude to all the people who participate and the people like you who support those that do participate.This year, my cousin Sandra and I made a pact to participate every year. A personal goal, to get in better shape, to stay in great shape, and raise the bar each year. We will walk/run this year, and next year, we are going to Fredericton, to run it with my sister (who’s been a real inspiration to me in her running efforts). Check out my Run for the Cure website page if you would like to donate on line to support Sandra and I. If you are not comfortable to donate on line, I will have a pledge sheet at work. This years’ run is on Sept 30th, and if you would like me to write the names of anyone on their wall of Hope, just let me know. I will be happy and proud to.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Well, if it wasn't exciting enough this weekend, with Terry's Hole in One .... we have a couple more things to celebrate. Terry's dad, Frank, has been battling Hodgkin's Disease for the past 9 months and this Monday just past, was his last chemo treatment. That is a huge celebration, and we are so excited to have them over. Now Frank can rest, and concentrate on getting stronger and getting better. And what a week he has had. To make the week even more exciting.... Frank was honoured at a ceremony in Ottawa, and received the Highest award that the Corps of Commissionaires awards to it's members. Here is what was read preceding the presentation of his medal by General Paul D. Manson (Ret'd) :

Commissionaires Meritorious Service Medal

Commissionaire Frank Peters

After serving for 21 years in the Canadian Forces, Cmre Peters joined Commissionaires Ottawa in April 1997. He was assigned to Health Canada in 2000 and while there, he earned the appreciation of client staff for his kindness and consideration in looking after their safety.

Late one winter evening, while escorting a female employee to her car, Cmre Peters witnessed three men assaulting another man, kicking him as he lay on the ground. Cmre Peters approached the men and challenged them, risking attack himself. Fortunately, the attackers fled. Cmre Peters then administered First Aid to the victim and called the authorities.

Cmre Peters intervened in a potentially dangerous situation in which he was outnumbered and put himself at serious risk. In doing so however, he saved the victim from serious injury or possible death. In recognition of his bravery, Cmre Peters has been awarded the Commissionaire Distinguished Service Medal, which is presented to him "in recognition of meritorious service above and beyond the faithful performance of duty, which involves an element of bravery or of personal risk".

Congratulations Frank, you deserve it, because on that night, you truly didn't give your safety one thought.... you thought of the poor young man, who was down on the ground, and was helpless against three thugs. We love you Frank...

Terry's beautiful sister Kelly, her amazing hubby, James, their two sweetheart daughters Aubrey and Gillian, as well as Franks wonderful wife Marie were all at the ceremonies. How lucky they were and I wish we could have been there too.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

How fun for Terry. He loves to golf and for the past 20 years, he has gone out 3 or 4 times a year. But last year I bought him a membership at the Above Par (Par 3) golf course in Wilmot, and he has been a regular ever since. Anyway, last night, while golfing with Bill Laird (witness), Terry got a HOLE IN ONE. Not being a golfer, I was thrilled but didn't realize how exciting this was until I heard the reaction from other golfers. How fun for Terry. Anyway, I had to walk the course with him tonight, so I could take his picture..... Hole # 3, 97 mtrs long.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

As summer ends and we charge full sail into the chill-swelter-chill pattern of the valley fall, I am looking forward to throwing out flowerpots full of overgrown foliage, and replacing them with fall mums. On my drive about last week, I found a few nice looking pots of mums at reasonable prices, but chose to wait one more week, just in case.... so today, I am planning on a run to a few nurseries and groceries stores, to see what is there.

My beans are starting to die, and dry up, and I always look forward to tearing them down, later in the fall, to harvest seeds for next year, but also to gain back a few of my yard from the deck. Its weird how in June, I can't wait for them to grow to their magnificent height of 12+ feet, and then 3 months later, I am chomping at the bit to tear them down. Strange beings, we humans are.My tomatoes were very successful this year, as opposed to last year. Linda Young told me that if your tomatoes don't turn red its because they didn't get enough water during the summer. Well, I am sure she is right, because this summer I watered far more regularly and all my tomatoes turned red. The tiny tims were sweet and plentiful and I will grow them again for sure.

My front flowerpots were nice, but needed more water than they should have, and next year I am going to look into a different mix of soil than I used this year; one with more peat or something that holds moisture better. Too much peat isn't great either.

First week of school is over now, and I am looking forward to a regular work day, and somewhat normal bus dismissals this week. On Friday, a somewhat normal day, we sent a little primary boy off with his mom to the hospital with a crayon tip shoved way down deep in his ear canal; a grade 3 boy with a possible broken rib, or at least bruised shoulder/rib, after he fell on the playground. A head check after lunch produced a case of lice in one of my little grade 1 girls whom I have had frequent checks with last year. And I helped a little primary boy pick out a change of clothes from my goodie dresser of extra clothes after he forgot he needed to go pee while he was playing outside with his classmates. He was so funny, when I showed him all the pairs of pants, he selected a bright red pair of girls pants and happily put them on because he was wearing a red shirt and thought that that would be the best pair. This was a case of not letting FASHION get in the way of playtime outside! His teacher wrote a note home explaining why it is important to send a spare set of clothes into school with your little primary each day or else we dress them in girls clothes!!! Nah, kidding.

Monday, September 3, 2007

This is the first long weekend in 6 years that I am not moving a child into a university. That's only because, Stephanie now lives in her university town, and Michelle and Scott went back a week earlier. This long weekend, we didn't spent it with anyone... no kids, no sisters, no in-laws. Totally a first in a million years. It was not terrible, just different. We had a couple of campfires in the evenings, one with Debbie and Brian, and one with Jill and Mel. They were so nice, and the evenings are cooler, bug free, and not much wind. So it was definitely a highlight to relax and sit around a fire with friends.

Some things I have learned this weekend...1. The bottom of the campfire bowl is really hot, and it burns the flesh of your BARE toes, really quickly.2. I shouldn't go around the yard, or house in bare feet. I have injured my feet a total of 6 times this summer, due to not wearing shoes. So I am trying to wear shoes around especially when I am outside.3. Michelle's room is a hideaway for all my socks!!! Amazing.

Kejimkujik National Park is one of most favorite places in the world to go. Its just so peaceful. And we had the privilege of spending the day there on Sunday. Just Terry and I. We biked for 2 hours along the trails and paths. It was quite cool(19 degrees) when we started (at Merrymakedge) but it warmed up really fast once we hit the trails. The first 10 minutes was UPHILL!!!! My legs were like jello and fire at the same time.

Within a few minutes, we happen upon our first wildlife siting. It was so magical. Not a sound in the forest around us, and we were talking to each other, and the deer was just grazing and not bothered by us at all. I took a few pictures but it was so dark in the woods, and this was the only one that you can actually make out what he is.

The trails were quite a challenge and we biked for about 20 kms through all different types of trails. So fun, and quite a challenge. The park was packed but we met very few people, just mostly when we biked around the campground.

All along the river, we talked about the possibility of Kayaking this river but we found several problems. The river is quite shallow, and there were a lot of boulders, but in spring it would be manageable. But then... The tree. This would be the challenge.... this tree crosses the whole river. How funny.

We had a good laugh when we saw that. Our last 15 minutes of the ride we were treated to one of those moments were you just stand back and reflect on nature. We came upon one deer feeding in the grass and we stood quietly watching. While we watched, another deer, a fawn joined her. Then another fawn, and then shortly afterwards another Deer and her baby. They acknowledged us, and continued eating. We watched them for quite a while. What a gift. A little side note to the blog. Sonny, my old boy, has found a new place to sleep. He changes his spot on a weekly basis. Over the summer, he has taken to sleeping under my car, on Scotts dresser, on a red shirt outside the bathroom door, on the computer table in Stephanie's room, and this is the new one since yesterday. He chooses a spot and then sleeps there every chance he can for about a week or two. Cats.....